On October 21, 2014, the American Immigration Council, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and American Civil Liberties Union filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (� ...
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On October 21, 2014, the American Immigration Council, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and American Civil Liberties Union filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, the National Immigration Law Center, the American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Project/NLG and the ACLU Foundation Immigrants’ Rights Project sought injunctive and declaratory relief as well as reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendants failed to disclose documents regarding information and practices in an Artesia, New Mexico immigration detention center. Specifically, the defendants failed to disclose information concerning the expedited removal of families Artesia after 2014.

There had been growing concern about the policies, procedures and practices related to the implementation of the expedited removal process in Artesia, sparking major concern from the media and the public. The facility in Artesia held women and minor children who had fled Central America, seeking refuge in the United States. Many of these migrants fled persecution and extreme danger in their home countries, and sought asylum in the U.S. However, some of these families have since been deported back to the countries from which they had fled, raising concern about the removal process. The plaintiffs sought to examine the extent to which these women and children had valid claims of asylum and if these families were receiving the process required by law. In order to understand this process, the plaintiffs submitted FOIA requests to each of the defendants for any agency records that the defendants prepared, received, transmitted, collected or maintained that concerned the policies, procedures and guidelines with respect to the Immigration and Nationality Act as well as a request for expedited processing. However, none of the defendants had made any determination as to whether they would comply with the plaintiffs’ request for the documents. The defendants also denied the plaintiffs request for expedited processing, even though the plaintiffs claimed that these documents were necessary to educate the public about time critical government activities.

On February 3, 2015, Judge Lorna G. Schofield ordered that the parties submitted to the Court a proposed schedule for the production of documents responsive to the plaintiffs' request. On February 13, 2015, the parties agreed on the number of pages each defendant should produce and review per month, until all responsive documents were gathered.

The parties settled on June 6, 2017. The defendants agreed to pay different amounts of money to the Plaintiffs, as the following: (i) $16,800 should be paid by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement; (ii) $21,600 should be paid by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services; and (iii) $9,600 should be paid by the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The parties provided that the settlement agreement did not constitute an admission by the US or its agencies, including defendants, that plaintiffs or their counsels were entitled to fees and costs. The settlement agreement also provided that the Court should retain jurisdiction over any issue that may arise relating to it.

Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
United States Department of Homeland Security

Plaintiff Description

The American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and the American Civil Liberties Union on the behalf of women and minor children in a New Mexico detention center.